Success Stories: February 26, 2025

Welcome Owasso church of Christ, Oklahoma: We welcome the Owasso church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. The attendance on Friday evening and Saturday was outstanding. They passed out the survey on Sunday and have already set up a Bible study. They will begin the preaching/training series. We look forward to their first report next week.

Welcome Porter church of Christ, Oklahoma: We welcome the Porter church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. The congregation overwhelmed us with warmth and hospitality. We ate several meals together as they welcomed us in their homes. The elders and preacher are fully engaged.

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “Glencoe’s door knocking produced nine contacts yesterday. One contact had been receiving HTH since 2006 and is interested in attending with us. We currently have four Bible studies going on and are prospecting four more. The excitement with Glencoe continues to rise with the upstairs being renovated for future evangelistic efforts. We appreciate all prayers. To God be the glory!”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “We are making visits this week because we just completed three weeks of cards to our first prospects. I have a good feeling about one couple being open to a Bible study; we will know soon. We have another round of cards going out today to some new prospects. We have another study with Viktoria this Thursday. She canceled last week due to illness, but she is so close. Our members have bought into evangelism, and our leadership is talking about it more.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “After an incredible week of encouraging lessons at our Spiritual Enrichment Series, Brother Charles Harris re-lit the fire for evangelism in us this Sunday. During the week that he and his wife, Anna, were with us, they showed us by example what evangelism is supposed to look like. In areas where they knew no one, they made numerous contacts throughout the week and provided us with opportunities for follow-up. All around us, souls are searching for spiritual fulfillment. Finding them does not have to be hard or uncomfortable. People will talk if we let them. We have had four baptisms since January, with many more to come!”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (evangelist) reports, “I wanted to share a touching experience we had last Friday night during our dinner at IHOP that truly reminded me of the importance of the Godly compassion we should show the lost in our daily lives. As we enjoyed our meal, the assistant manager approached our table to inquire if everything was satisfactory. Little did we know that this brief moment would unfold into a heartfelt conversation that lasted about 15 minutes. He shared with us his story. He is from New York City, and during our dialogue, he opened up about his recent visit to see his father. It was a poignant moment as he revealed the heavy burdens he was carrying—his mother and brother had both passed away. We felt a genuine connection as he shared his grief and the challenges he has been facing. In light of this encounter, we have decided to place him on our compassion card list. Moments like this serve as a stark reminder that there are countless lost souls out there in need of our love, attention, and the Gospel. Let us continue to reach out to those around us, offering a listening ear or a comforting word when we can. Together, we can make a difference with the Gospel in our communities.”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “We continue to have good success with our contacts from January. Robert Tate continues to visit with us. We have been able to assist his wife with transportation for visits to her doctor. Mr. Tate was with us last night at services. Our teams have been working to develop gift baskets for our contacts, and we plan to make those visits soon. Mr. Tate is our hottest contact, and we learned through conversation with him that he was with the Assembly of God denomination years ago. We appreciate prayers as we continue to cultivate his heart to be able to plant the seed.”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “On Sunday, we baptized a young lady. This keeps us on track to meet our goal for the year! We also are doing more one-on-one training with new Bible study leaders and silent partners this week.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We rejoice this week as four have put on Christ in baptism. Taylor Hughes and Joseph Peebles studied with Brandon Pace during a night shift last week, and he decided to obey the Gospel the next morning. Adley Claire Jones, Lydia Kidd, and Abigail Miller were all baptized during the Challenge Youth Conference this weekend. To God be the glory!”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We continued our refresher training, or as I like to call it, troubleshooting training, yesterday; we are making the necessary updates and targets. Over the next two weeks, we should have coordinators or task leaders assigned, and we will begin having monthly update meetings to discuss the program and learn what works and what does not work. Our prospect list has been temporarily paused because of all the training and changes, and we will start fresh in March. We had some visitors recently, and we are sending cards to them. I recently sent some material to an individual who has now requested a Bible study. We hope we can transition an in-person study soon.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “Care Team A met on Sunday to work on compassion cards. Chandra and I are planning a dinner on Friday evening with a young family that has been visiting us. We are prayerful that this will lead to a Bible study.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “Windsor had a great worship service this past Sunday. We had three visitors. We sent out a set of compassion cards to our three prospects, and we had an evangelism meeting after worship. We determined that we needed to re-accomplish our surveys, redouble our efforts, and recommit to the process. It was a very constructive meeting. We also aligned our structure of meetings to ensure our members are not over-taxed. We ensure everyone is aligned with our goal.”

Avalon church of Christ, Florida (remote): Preston Silcox (elder) reports, “Last week we had one personal Bible study and one group Bible study. We also hosted two events that typically bring us visitors, allow for Gospel conversations, and pave the way for Bible studies: Family Movie Night and our Senior Saints Get-Together. We are studying Back to the Bible, and Does it Matter? on Sunday nights.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “We had a new visitor this week who was immediately moved into a Bible study! Bryan Richards attended our services Sunday, and he came searching for answers. We offered to sit down and study Back to the Bible with him. He loved the study and is eager to learn more! We are covering the study with prayers, as well as the other six studies that are currently in progress. We also have a new evangelistic opportunity with Dalyn Wilson, who is one of the police officers who serves as security for us. He was recently diagnosed with lymphoma, and the church is helping him with transportation and other benevolence needs. He is Catholic, but he has been asking lots of questions, which should open the door for a Bible study when the time presents itself! We now have 74 contacts in total; 15 are visitors. We have sent a total of 674 compassion cards and are currently working on 26 prospects: seven with the card ministry, 15 visitors, and four prodigals. Several of the visitors are currently attending services and our grief ministry.”

Rabun County church of Christ, Tiger, Georgia: McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “We continue to see wonderful attendance. Lord willing on Tuesday, I will begin studying Book 3 of Back to the Bible with one of our recent visitors. We hold our open Bible Study at the local Chick-fil-A. We continue to be out in the community, and folks are realizing that the church of Christ exists here in Rabun County.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “The WCOC congregation attended the Sunabella of Towne Lake Assistant Living devotional on Sunday. They had nine non-Christians in attendance. The New Movers group had twelve individuals volunteer to help with this week’s New Movers Door Knocking Campaign. They contacted seven homeowners, gave them baskets, and left fifteen door hangers for those not at home. That is a total of twenty-one homes visited. The Prison Ministry Group is working to get two more individuals cleared to enter the Youth Detention Center (YDC) to help with Bible Studies. The New Converts class had six attendees. The attendees were people from the congregation who wanted to help the new converts. We had six non-Christian visitors this Sunday morning.  We also conducted one Bible study last week.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “As usual on the last Sunday of the month, we had our fellowship meal after morning worship. We had a few visitors. It is a joy to see new visitors with a nice visitor gift box that our ladies put together. We have their information on a card, so they will receive cards from our group and be in the queue for a follow-up contact next month as well. We are thankful our elders provide so many ways our members can participate in our efforts to spread the Gospel!”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “I have been out of town the past week working with the Central church of Christ. It has been a joy to meet the brethren. They have been doing well since enrolling in the school but want to increase their evangelistic efforts. I am looking forward to hearing about their growth. Back home at Cartersville, there is much rejoicing. Raymond was restored on Sunday. He has been in jail, and a few of us have been able to visit him, and others offered many prayers on his behalf.”

Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Alvin Foshee (elder) reports, “Our evangelism program continues to gain momentum this year. The elders and ministers continue to reinforce and reiterate the importance of local evangelism during every Sunday morning worship service. The deacon that we appointed last year to lead our evangelism program is fully dedicated to the program and is doing an outstanding job! We have been very diligent in our local outreach effort, which has resulted in an influx of visitors regularly each Sunday. Four weeks ago, our Bible study team completed their study with a gentleman who has been visiting with us for a few months, and he was recently baptized. Two weeks
ago, we were fortunate and blessed to have another baptism, and last Sunday, we were blessed to have our third baptism for the year. Our compassion card team is doing a tremendous work by sending cards each month, and we continue to utilize the invitation cards frequently. We would appreciate prayers for our evangelism program at Peachtree City so that we may be afforded the ability to seek and save the lost in our communities.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We had an exciting week. We had three visitors on Sunday. Two of them were people we met while door-knocking during AMC. Pam had been very sick, and we were only able to meet with and talk with her husband. She was never able to come to the door. We followed up many times and continued to send cards. We prayed many times at the door. This Sunday, they both came to worship. They loved it and plan to come back. We mailed out 142 compassion cards. The new Christian class continues to go strong. We had one Bible study this week as several other students continued to recover from sickness. On Sunday, we had our weekly Servants of Souls class. This week, we discussed door-knocking and did a mock door-knocking in the fellowship hall. We are practicing different strategies and trying to build confidence. We had our biggest turnout yet. On Wednesday, we will have our monthly coordinators’ meeting. We continue to work on the plan and pray our Bible studies resume soon.”

Judah church of Christ, Bedford, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We had a long men’s meeting yesterday. Two men who have never had a personal Bible study with someone (one is a new convert himself) volunteered to visit and try to get a study with our first prospect after three weeks of cards. We picked a night to visit him, and we also visited two women who are sisters. They were recently baptized but have missed several times lately. We also chose another prospect to receive cards, and we will begin cards for them this coming Sunday.”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “We are bouncing back from seasonal ailments, and we had a great week. Prospects were invited to our quarterly prayer breakfast and three joined us. We received our first new mover list. The couple that volunteered to take the lead with new movers has been trained and is ready to go. The weekly training for the congregation is having a positive result as more conversations focus on the spiritual needs of our contacts and members. This is a gradual process, but our loving God is giving the increase as we persevere in doing our part.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “On Sunday morning, we had 48 in attendance; one was a repeat visitor, and two granddaughters of some of our members were visiting as well. I offered a prayer for those on our contact bookmarks, and we will be continuing that practice as we seek recipients for compassion cards. We have our first new movers’ baskets made up. We hope to deliver them to some of the new families in our community. We have a lot of things in the works to reach out to our community. To God be the glory.”

Madisonville church of Christ, Kentucky:  Russell Kline (preacher) reports, “Compassion Card Team 3 met and sent out several cards. A young Baptist preacher visited our evening worship service. Don and Diane Killough took him out to eat; Bob McElvain asked him for a Bible study, and he agreed.”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “This week, we made several visits, and we scheduled a Bible study. We also continue to be impressed with the participation of those who are in our new converts’ class. They are so engaged and excited! We are looking forward to having Keno Shrum with us on the final Sunday of March for a ‘refresh’ Sunday. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts before then as well as for great encouragement on that day.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “Things are going well with our congregation’s evangelism efforts. We have four ongoing Bible studies. We are beginning a new Christians’ class and have assessed the current knowledge of new Christians in an effort to meet them where they are spiritually. We are focusing on training and fellowship. We are emphasizing the role of a church family in helping each other get to Heaven. We are maintaining our accountability boards. We are thankful to God, who continues to give the increase. Many cards are also being sent out. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”

Beltway church of Christ, Maryland: LeAndre Johnson (preacher) reports, “We now have a list of prospects and are beginning to write compassion cards. We are continuing to organize and train the congregation.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “God is still in the blessing business here in La Plata. We had one visitor this week from a sister congregation. We sent out one compassion card with 10 signatures to a repeat prospect. We currently have three open Bible studies. Also, three members of the congregation picked up copies of Back to the Bible for upcoming Bible studies. One sister completed Lesson 1 with her niece yesterday. Another sister plans to start a study with her granddaughter tomorrow. One of the brothers plans to study with his younger brother this week. Five folks attended our new convert training classes. Five members attended the advanced teacher training class on using Does it Matter? Six young men are attending the men’s training class on fundamentals of the faith. Seventeen attended this week’s video of the week: Session 2 of 4 on the Qualifications of Elders. We have scheduled visits for four prospects this week. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to spread the Gospel of Christ in our community and implement the evangelism model here in the congregation in La Plata.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We are sending compassion cards to four prospects this week. Three have lost loved ones, and one has cancer. Of the three that lost loved ones, one also lost a house in a fire. A week later, her sister died. We ask for a special prayer for Jackie this week.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had four visitors this past week, and two visitors for Sunday’s worship service. The two visitors took Book 1, and we are praying that they will be able to begin the study this week. After worship service, we completed 40 compassion cards, bringing our February total to 125 cards. Our other metrics for February include seven Bible studies and 12 prospects. We will be preparing to visit our prospects, new movers, and those that need restoration. We appreciate all prayers.”

Sanford church of Christ, North Carolina: Brian Hall (preacher) reports, “Things are going well here. We are continuing to pursue our contacts and attempting to gain new ones. We are currently working with a disabled older man and his son. He has expressed a strong desire to attend services, and so we are working to make that happen. At the same time, we are continuing to send compassion cards. We have a lot of positive feedback from those who are receiving them. We appreciate all prayers and encouragement for the work here in Sanford!”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “ We had one baptism last week. This sweet, dear lady showed up one day at the church building just to talk to the ‘minister.’ She started attending services; within a few weeks, she was studying with three of our dear sisters. They studied through all three lessons of Back to the Bible, and at first, she was hesitant to obey. She finally made the decision last Thursday evening. She is now attending our New Converts class on Sunday morning. She will be given a Bible and baptismal certificate next week. We have planned a “New Members/New Converts” special meal and recognition day in March. One of our couples has already made up the special invitations and has begun dispersing those. We felt it good to honor these folks and let them know just how special they are to us. This gathering will also help us get to know one another better. Our New Mover teams continue to deliver baskets and invite folks to services. They have delivered approximately 20 baskets so far in 2025. One of our members just met a gentleman who agreed to a Bible study this week at the church building. Our goal is to walk him through Back to the Bible. We will also finish our study (BTTB 3) with a high school senior this week. We pray she will receive with meekness the Word that is able to save! We will begin a weekly Bible study in an apartment complex for seniors in two weeks. We have been given permission to use their community room, and the manager has even told us she will promote it on their daily announcement sheet that goes to every resident. Two of our new converts live there, along with several of our long-time members, and they really wanted to get this started! I believe great things will result from this effort.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “We were blessed to spend time with the Whitacres this week at several area seminars. While we were at one of the seminars, a sister told me about a wayward daughter who had fallen out of the church. Her daughter lives in Coweta. I asked her other daughter, who also lives in Coweta, if she could get her to come to worship services on Sunday. We were excited to see them walk through the door Sunday morning. We introduced ourselves. Our pew greeters did their job and collected their contact information after giving them a visitor’s bag. After services, Jamie and I took them to lunch at a local restaurant. We had a great visit and got to know them better. They are both in their 20’s. We are blessed to have quite a few members in that age range. The sisters returned for the evening service and said they looked forward to next week. Jamie and I are leaving town for a couple of weeks, but we told them we would like to have them over for dinner, along with some of our other 20-somethings, when we get back. They said they could hardly wait, and they wanted to get involved with other members their age. We will likely go through Does it Matter? with the wayward daughter in hopes of restoring her. This serves as a good reminder. While compiling your contact list, look around your assembly and think of brothers and sisters you have not seen in a while. Reach out and try to restore them. If you need help or ideas, Regional Trainers are available to help you! May God bless you all in your labors!”

Whispering Hills church of Christ, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma: Matt McBrayer (preacher) reports, “We have just started this congregational effort and have tried to hit the ground running. We explained the bookmarks on Sunday and handed out the surveys from the seminar. We ended up calling an audible, and instead of waiting until next week to start setting up contacts, we chose to send cards to two people we know. The congregation also had an inordinate number of visitors, numbering 18. We took two visiting families to lunch and set up one Bible Study. We have already set up our evangelism table and have a goal to prepare a room for all of our evangelistic needs. The congregation is excited (we prepared 62 cards to send out this week), and we are praying for our efforts to reach the lost.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Two families visited Sunday, and both very much enjoyed the service and made multiple connections with members. We will follow up with both families and look forward to seeing them again!”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “I am still trying to get a study with a recent cancer patient and his wife. After surgery a few weeks ago and a post-op follow-up last Thursday, he has been declared cancer-free. I thought they would be at worship yesterday morning, but a headache kept them away. So, I texted the wife today and asked again about scheduling the study. Our plans are to go to their house and celebrate the successful surgery. I will then help them understand the urgency of beginning the study. I want them to be secure in their walk with God!”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “Meet our new brother Dustin. Jamie, the preacher in Columbia, studied Does It Matter? with Dustin, and then baptized him. He had been in attendance for several weeks and wanted to be right with God’s will. We also had four studies in Book 3, Back to the Bible. The students see the need for obedience and have some very important decisions to make. We are continuing our studies with four more in Book 2 and a couple still in Book 1. The training is going great as we teach such points as ‘Defer, Don’t Debate,’ and we use ‘How to Close the Study.’ There is also more participation from members, with two showing a desire to investigate HTHSOE in training as well.”

Stewarts Creek church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Jon McCord (member) reports, “Greg handed out the Post Evangelism Seminar Questionnaire today. So far, we have 55 filled out, and they are in a spreadsheet for us to know lists of people willing to do what task. The first Sunday morning lesson was given. However, the evening lesson was delayed due to an already scheduled guest preacher.

We had another baptism this evening! We had an elder/deacon/preacher meeting specifically to discuss evangelism. Here are the notes: ‘Discussion of compassion cards and how current encouragement letters will change, discussion of coordinators and areas, and discussion of evangelism table.’”

Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Cottontown, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “We are collecting and compiling our survey results to begin the organization process. We decided not to begin the sermon series this Sunday because we had 37 attending CYC over the weekend. Dale will begin that this week as we prepare to start focusing on the lost in our area.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (remote): Brian McCord (elder) reports, “We had around 18 visitors yesterday across our services. We will send out about 30 cards this week. This will be the third week for some of these contacts. Next, we will plan visits to take place after the fourth week. We had 41 at services last night. This is the most I have seen in attendance since we have been attending! Very encouraging!”

McEwen church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Jones (preacher) reports, “This past week, we continued sending cards, received a few more contacts, and had two Sunday morning visitors that we had over in our home. We will begin sending cards to them today. We are preaching through Back to the Bible on Sunday mornings and are getting good feedback from the congregation. On Sunday nights, we have been going through the training sessions. We have just finished updating our bulletin to a phone app that can group our members in the areas where they are willing to serve. We hope that this will be helpful to our coordinators. We plan to do five transition visits this week. We appreciate all prayers as we try to up some Bible studies!”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “We added a new prospect this week. One is a neighbor of some members whose husband passed away last week.  We are continuing to send cards to our three other prospects and will be going to visit them soon. We have still not been able to get into a study yet with the young girl referenced to us from World Bible School. However, we will continue to reach out and try to get a study scheduled.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had three visitors this past week, and we had four contact cards submitted. We sent out 39 compassion cards. We made three visits and continue to work with two new converts in our congregational class.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Copperhill, Tennessee: R.E. Vann (elder) reports, “We were able to resume our Bible study with Kristin and got about halfway through the second booklet (BTTB). She is very curious, and the next study is scheduled for Saturday after supper. Always eat!  We had 13 visitors this week and added another family to our prospect list. We are looking forward to our 3-month virtual meeting with Rob this Friday. We are serving our Lord together.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Sunday. We have two Bible studies ongoing. We made two visits last week. We had a restoration this past Sunday. He had been away from the church a good while. He had started driving his mother to church several weeks ago. I talked with him a couple of times, and we met on Sunday. He expressed he was working on his life and wanted to be back in the church and a member at Rivergate.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We continue to push the bookmarks, but no one has submitted names for prospecting. There are a few who are on their own, meeting people for lunch and praying for individuals. I continue to push. We are trying to find a simple way to do the texting of daily Bible readings. Without an app, it is cumbersome. On a trial run of one person, we sent 561 texts inviting contacts to do a daily Bible reading. Ten people responded negatively. Nine blocked the person, and one sent a message to lose their phone number. Twenty people responded they wanted to participate. We have been diligently sending daily

readings. We hope one or two will respond directly with additional questions. This will lead to the opportunity to state, ‘We also offer one-on-one personal Bible studies. When can we meet?’ We are attempting to geo-fence Google and Facebook ads using the invitation cards. We will report how that goes.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “We have had three baptisms this month! Seeing souls saved and added to the church is such a blessing! We continue to greet visitors and send compassion cards.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Things are progressing well. We recently gave a summary to the congregation for the work in 2024. We are working on sending our survey for areas of involvement back out to the congregation as optional for those who would like to adjust or clarify the areas that they feel most align with their talents. Next, we plan to realign with all coordinators to ensure we are engaging as many in the congregation as we can.”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley (elder) reports, “We will meet this week for our advanced class. We are currently working on five prospects and continuing one Bible study.  We had our gospel meeting over the weekend with Don Blackwell and had seven responses for prayers.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “Good morning from the West Fayetteville congregation. This past week, we have dispersed the new mover baskets; we are praying this will bear fruit. On Wednesday night, we helped someone with a benevolence need. We added this person to our contact list and will be sending cards. This Sunday morning, a young family visited, and they are looking for a church home. They have a young baby and was very interested in our children’s programs. Members Steve and Deanna Miller invited them to go out for lunch, and the young family group invited them to their get-together planned for after worship Sunday evening. They seem very excited to be invited and included. We continue to visit those on our transition list and those who need encouragement.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Each week, our Bible classes encourage the use of individual prospect cards and contact cards from the teenage class through adults. Each age group encounters varying opportunities within their circle of influence. Our new mover’s program will utilize the teenager class to create and deliver welcome packages, expanding participation and teaching evangelism participation.”

Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “Over the last couple of weeks, we have sent out over 100 cards in the compassion card program. We do have some good news to report. On Saturday, February 22, we baptized one soul into Christ. Due to the circumstances, we were unable to provide pictures. This individual is physically handicapped, and the family did not want pictures taken. It was a beautiful sight to see four people assist in the lifting and lowering of this person into the water to become a new Christian. May God have the glory, praise, and honor for this soul’s choice to put Christ on in baptism. Continue to pray for our efforts.”

Freewill church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “Yesterday we had the opportunity to go through Book 3 of Back to the Bible with Jaden Gentry and his mom, Pam Johnson. We had already gone through Books 1 and 2 about six months ago. During the study, I learned that Pam had obeyed the Gospel years ago. Jaden has never obeyed. As we concluded the study, Jaden and Pam would not budge. We spent the next hour studying about priorities, how short life is, and being almost persuaded. Still, they would not budge. They are worried that difficult family circumstances would pull them back down. We are not going to give up; we will continue to pray for their hearts to be softened. I hope we can set up another study with them soon. We have lunch scheduled with a visiting family next weekend; please pray for a smooth transition into a study of Back to the Bible. We appreciate all prayers. God bless you all.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We’re working on ways to make the card writing process more effective and beneficial for the congregation. We have 10 and possibly 11 studies. All are at various points. One went through Back to the Bible, but she did not obey. There are more things to work through with her, but she wants to continue to study. Additionally, we have three prospects that we are writing cards to.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “We had another great Lord’s Day discussing Book 2 of Back to the Bible in the morning and having visitors in the evening. We are working on moving our contacts to prospects and placing a coordinator over the compassion cards. Brethren are still excited about working together as a congregation, and everyone has a part. We will place several members on the Visitor/Greeter team and train them to help our visitors feel welcome and informed so we can move them toward the Evangelism Model.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “We had another good week. I completed Book 3 during our morning worship hour. Howard Horng (deacon) presented a training session on the New Movers program. We did not write any cards yesterday, due to it being our End of Quarter fellowship meal and also having an early afternoon worship service. The timing worked out, however, because we are in between groups of prospects, and it has also allowed our members another week to submit contact cards. Our ‘Transition Visit’ team met yesterday in between services and assigned teams and scheduled visits for our latest group of prospects. Four visits will be made, while another three prospects are being invited over to homes for meals. Jason, one of our elders, had an unfaithful prospect visit in his home this past weekend. The prospect has been receiving cards, and now he has agreed to a study in his home a couple of weeks from now. Our congregation has four on-going Bible studies at this time. Our newest study is with a couple that Kaylon and I met through our daughter’s Little Gym class. To cultivate a relationship with them, we had them over two weeks ago for supper. We then scheduled a study for this past week. They came to our home, ate supper, and then we completed Book 1. We will have our second study in two weeks. We appreciate all prayers for our congregation as we strive to fulfill the Great Commission!”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Bryce Mayfield (evangelist) reports, “Last night I met with the elders concerning some areas that Southwest could improve upon in our evangelistic efforts. We have many visitors each week, so they will be our main focus as we seek to make contacts and get prospects so that we can have Bible studies. Training is to take place with the elders, deacons, and their wives about greeting visitors and getting their contact information. Also, the Arise Spiritual Growth Workshop will begin this Thursday. The congregation here is making efforts to invite others, including the lost. We ask for your prayers that this workshop might introduce lost souls to the church.”

Southside church of Christ, Lubbock, Texas (remote): Joshua Hubbard (associate minister) reports, “We are moving along smoothly. We have finished the last video of the seminar and are ready to begin collecting contacts for prospecting. We have a few Bible studies already; we appreciate all prayers for these efforts. We are also hoping to reach out to the unfaithful and encourage those members to return. There are many moving parts, but the congregation is enthusiastically working to ensure we do our part in bringing souls to Christ. “

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “We continue to have regular visitors to the congregation, and most all of them are constant in their attendance. Several members have taken one couple out to eat, and we will meet again this coming Tuesday. They keep dodging our desire to study with them, so we hope they will agree soon. Also, some of our visitors are returning for Sunday night and Wednesday services. This is because of relationship building. We continue to work on the model in all areas. We have six ongoing Bible studies that are in different phases of understanding. We have one group study at a nursing home with seventeen residents and some caregivers and staff. We have one new convert study with a lady who was converted nine years ago in another town, but no one ever studied with her. We have assisted the Lord’s church in the town of Van on how to use their clothing closet to make contacts. This week, we have a meal plan with a lady we met on our Facebook page called Fruitvale Bible Study. Last week, no one showed up for the community Bible study offered by the Ferris family, but the good news was that the three who had been coming texted in advance that they could not make it.”

Midtown church of Christ, Victoria, Texas: Cody McCoy (preacher) reports, “Last week, the preacher, elders, and deacon over evangelism met to create an involvement form so all members of the congregation can choose specific tasks and duties for their involvement. We are passing out the bookmark with the 18 items anyone can do in evangelism to keep our momentum going. Our compassion card teams have had contacts every week. Last week’s study went well, and she asked to continue it.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “Recently, I gave two young men copies of Book 1 of Back to the Bible so they could study with their parents at home. I have heard nothing from them, but I will check on them this week. I visited multiple times this past two weeks with a lady whose husband is on hospice, and we had sent him cards earlier. I have given her some reading/study materials, and I plan to follow up with her.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “At Bridgewater, we were blessed to have another soul study. We hoped to see the power of God‘s Word so Dana would surrender her will to the Lord in baptism. Wade, Mary, and I studied with Dana, and she saw God‘s truth and was baptized. We have had five baptisms this month! We are over halfway to this year’s goal for the church. Jim and I had a follow-up study with John on Saturday. His wife, Laura, has been coming to church with him, and we will have a study with her next month. We have other prospects that are promising for the future. Our Compassion Card Team 2 writes cards of encouragement to visitors at our services and to future prospects. We continue to have visitors to our services.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “This past Sunday displayed a number of changes. First, our study with Melissa has ended. She decided that following God’s Will was not for her. Please pray for this young lady; pray that the things we studied will soak in, and may God bless her soul to return to God. As to Caesar, we will engage in another study this Monday. We are almost ready to enter into the three-booklet series concerning his salvation. We request prayers for his response of loving obedience. Finally, we request prayers for Travis and Sierra.  These young Christians possess soft hearts for the Lord. Travis responded to the Lord’s invitation this past Sunday, confessing sin and a desire to be restored. Sierra responded, seeking prayers to hold onto what she knows is right. God is so good. May we never forget this truth. May we appreciate this truth every day of our lives.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “We have two updates of importance. This past Sunday, we began to deliver our new movers’ baskets. Andrew Randig (member) is leading this effort. In addition, Kerista Cowan met with her neighbor, Elaine, at ‘Mug on the Square.’ Kerista was able to use this time to learn more of Elaine’s background and begin to understand what Elaine’s current goals are in regard to writing a Bible class curriculum. Kerista discussed with Elaine the importance of not adding to or taking away from God’s Word with Elaine. Kerista is prayerful that a formal study of Book 1 will start soon.”

Abingdon church of Christ, Virginia: Freddie Klein (evangelist) reports, “This Sunday, Nathan continued his sermon series on ‘Jesus as the Politically Incorrect Evangelist.’ I spoke with the congregation about bookmarks, new contact cards, and the various card groups. I also met with the card group organizer and three group leaders who oversee our three different weeks of card writing. We discussed our plan of action for the upcoming weeks. That evening, Nathan focused on the Bible study component of our evangelism plan. We are excited about the positive changes happening at the Abingdon church of Christ. In fact, we currently have two Bible studies taking place. To God be the glory!”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “A young man from the community has visited for the past couple of Sundays. Many people continue greeting and working to make a connection with him. He participates in worship. We hope we can have a Bible study with him soon. Our card writing efforts continue with enthusiasm and keeps more people involved in the process.”

Culpeper church of Christ, Virginia (remote): Dave Calvert (elder) reports, “Before COVID, our Sunday morning worship attendance was usually around 100. We have not seen that many in a very long time, until this past Sunday when we had 110. This is the most I have seen in my 50+ years of worshipping at the Culpeper church of Christ. We started our compassion card ministry the prior week. We cannot know for certain, but I feel that the cards had something to do with the increased attendance. We also had quite a few new visitors. Some of the visitors were family members of a father and his daughter that visited us for the first time the prior Sunday. One of our deacons had invited the father before his first visit.  Because of that invitation and their openness to Biblical and spiritual discussions, the father and the daughter came to understand what was needed to receive salvation. The deacon baptized the father, and then the new Christian father immediately baptized his daughter! To God be the glory!  We were glad to have another very uplifting Sunday morning worship service!”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “This has been a challenging week due to weather and sickness. We continued Bible studies that had been rescheduled. We also prepared compassion cards. We provided a review of the results since the beginning of our congregational evangelism training. We appreciate the hard work involved and the reminder of opportunities available for all to participate. We continue to pray for those that are lost and for the workers spreading the Gospel, and we give thanks to God for adding to His church.”